Barolo UnoPerUno DOCG 2013 Altare

The result of extreme hand de-stemming, the 2013 Barolo Unoperuno is assembled berry-by-berry. Fruit comes from the estate's celebrated Arborina vineyard. This wine was not produced in 2014 (because yields were so low). Starting in 2015, it will also include fruit blended in from Cannubi, Cerretta and other sites. This edition shows a wonderful sense of precision and focus with subtle mineral intensity at the back of dried fruit, tobacco, moist earth and toasted hazelnut. Only 1,500 bottles are made. The labor required to make this wine is intense. It takes a full week to complete the hand de-stemming process in which each berry is picked off individually ("uno per uno"). The must undergoes a ten-day maceration period. To innovator Elio Altare, this is his interpretation of a "traditional" Barolo.

Elio Altare and his daughter Silvia made all their single-vineard Barolo expressions in 2014. The estate uses hails nets in the vineyards and this helped to protect the fruit from adverse weather conditions.

The 2013 Barolo Unoperuno is a selection from Arborina that was made with fully destemmed fruit. Supple and inviting, with lovely creaminess, the 2013 possesses a striking center of fruit and pungent aromatics to match. As good as the Unoperuno is, it is also not materially different from the straight Arborina in this vintage. There will be no 2014, but going forward the Unoperuno will incorporate grapes from various sites. That is probably a good idea in helping the wine find its own identity.